Thursday, August 10, 2006

How to Select Blogs to Visit

How do you decide what blogs to visit, and what ones to ignore?

A simple lesson in Blog Glimpsing should help you resolve this sticky issue.

Blog Glimpsing is a highly technical term for the blogosphere. It's designed to do what "web surfing" did for the web and "channel surfing" did for television remotes. To engage in Blog Glimpsing is to visit select blogs. But what is the best selection criteria?How To SelectBlogs to Visit

(or Blog GlimpsingMade Simple):

(1) Is the blog a personal blog?

If so, you can skip it. All it will contain is gossip, grumbling, and groveling in the dull trivial drivel of a boring person. Interesting, intelligent, active people are not blogging. They are actually doing things, real things that normal people value and respect.

(2) Is it a marketing blog?

If so, you can skip it. There are only a few marketing blogs that have any real community of readers, or any valuable, relevant content to help you in your business. Most marketing blogs feature a lot of smoke, but no fire. No passion. No expertise.

(3) Is it a humor blog?

If so, you can skip it. People with a real knack for comedy are in movies, Las Vegas, and Last Comic Standing. They're too busy getting paid to make audiences laugh. Real comics don't have the time or sobriety to do any blogging.

(4) Is it a technical blog?

If so, you can skip it. Technical blogs are built by people who like to build things just to build them. They have no clue as to what people really want. They don't have any desire to watch how people actually try to use the beta junk they unleash on us suckers.

(5) Is it a professional blog?

If so, you can skip it. The blogs of attorneys, doctors, space astronauts, pawn shop brokers, tattoo parlor artists, and dog groomers are usually full of either lies or tedious anecdotes nobody can possibly sit still for.

(6) Is it a music band blog?

If so, you can skip it. Chances are, they won't have any free sample mp3s to share, and they will be pushing their imitative CDs and club shows. You are expected to go see the band play in New Jersey, or buy their ugly looking CD, with absolutely no idea of what they sound like, except what they claim to be "influences" in their We Sound Kind of Like lists.

(7) Is it an artist blog?

If so, you can skip it. Artist blogs, which you expect to be full of image uploads and galleries and tips on art promotion, are just personal drivel blogs, confessional journals, and thus, no better than any run of the mill personal chatter blog.

(8)Is it a political blog?

If so, you can skip it. Political blogs are predictable. They twist every news report and culture shift to make their favored candidate get all the glory, and to put down the other party. Political parties are like birthday parties. Mentally sane and mature adults don't need them.

(9) Is it a pop culture celebrity-focus blog?

Is so, you can skip it. You'll save a lot of wear and tear on your computer, by watching Entertainment Tonight and reading National Enquirer or The Star or whatever those grocery store rags are called nowadays. Watch the TV Guide channel's fake news reportage. Or anything with Regis Philbin in it.

(10) Is it a business blog?

If so, you can skip it. Blogs don't do very much for business, and real business people are too busy to blog, read blogs, and post comments on blogs. If you have a business blog yourself, delete it. A business blog screams: "I have no customers or clients, so I have plenty of time to post silly tripe to my blog and yours."

With these guiding principles firmly held in mind, you should be a very successful and effective Blog Glimpser.

Your time in the blogosphere will be vastly reduced, you will spare yourself the glare of empty eyeballs, and you will have more time to spend selling product, meeting with clients, and solving actual industry dilemmas. And--making money, money you can really spend!